Other (smaller) adventures in the jungle
Trip Start
Apr 05, 2010
1
64
84
Trip End
Ongoing
Tena, Ecuador
Sunday, February 6, 2011
It's odd how on heinsight the really really bad moments actually really shape memories. In a way I felt so alive then, be it good or bad, to me feeling alive is always positive (especially afterwards). I was really there, intensely in the moment, panicking, afraid for what was happening to us. But really really in that moment in my mind and skin, totally aware.
So I had to take care of myself after this. I didn't want to leave the project out of fear, but I wanted to place my fear, give it a spot in myself and my memory. So I definitely stayed longer. Eventhough I did avoid feeding Mono Loco, the crazy capuchin monkey that out of the blue jumps against the fence where you are. This jump just touched the fear too deep, like stabbing a needle under your fingernail.
But I faced our own spidermonkey, who once was laying outside of our door in the middle of the night. I jumped, but then realised it's only Beata. She was kept by a hotel to entertain tourists, but luckily because of the pressure by tourists and tourcompanies, the owner brought her to us. She's a deformed spidermonkey, a lot smaller than her species-buddier, with deformed hands and legs. They think she only got candy as a baby monkey, and not the milk she really needed. She also doesn't have teeth (they rotted away) which makes her safe to be around.
As she lives freely around amaZOOnico, she has all day to look for open doors, so because of her we have to close everything locked. She's hilarious, hanging with her strong tail on doorknobs trying to open them.
Eventhough what happened, I couldn't deny my love for the jungle. The project has 2 forest rangers that walk through the forests to make sure nobody hunts in our protected forests, or takes down any trees, and keep an eye on the animals that live there. As a volunteer, you can join the forest rangers on your free day, so I grabbed this opportunity with open hands. But I took a good stone with me as self defense ;)
I went hiking through or hilly jungle with Jaime, and already in the first hour... I ripped my pants. I only noticed it around lunchtime, when I looked down and suddenly saw the skin of my leg. A giant at least 40cm rip right across my behind... Luckily Jaime had been walking in front of me all the time! So I uncomfortably hung my raincoat over my hips, and walked around in the jungle like that for the rest of the day. Memorable :)
Although we only saw an agouti and squirrel, the day was full of adventure thanks to Jaime's obliviousness. First he once was chopping the canopy on the top of a hill with his machette, and suddenly he fell through and was GONE. Luckily he only fell 2 meters down, and except for a few smaller rips in his pants of his own, he was fine. But funny he was first standing there, and then WOOSH, gone.
A little later he wanted to show me the inside of an empty beehive. Or at least he thought it to be empty. He chopped a piece of and started RUNNING yelling at me that I should RUN too!!! A swarm of bees following us, biting us, but luckily it wasn't a species with stingers. Hahaha we ended up having a great laugh about it, and me feeling a little sad that he destroyed part of their house. But hey, great fighters they are those little brave bees! Just giving up their life for their community.
Makes me think of the many many species of ants (like the KONGA a GIANT ant here, you do not want them to ever bite you!) and termites that I saw everywhere.We have the military ants, that just move their whole life. Sometimes we saw them passing with millions I would say through our house, but in a day they would be gone. They only pass by, and clean up everything in their way. Amazing to see rows and rows and rows of very faststepping ants through houses.Another time when I still had another room downstairs int he volunteers house (that I didn't like, way too moist and I encountered things like a small very poisonous scorpion in there) I opened the door and a swarm of hundreds (thousands probably) big flying ants were flying in my room. Also just for one day, and then they were all gone. Thank got for a mosquito net though.
So, back to my day in the jungle. I also suddenly saw a little snake on the path betwene Jaime and I. I pointed it out to him (he didn't see!! just stepped over it), and asked if it was dangerous. He says, let's see. He took a long palmtree leave and tapped the snake. The little animal had been looking around from me to him, really smart, knowing exactly where we both are. And then it just shooted over the ground crazy fast at Jaime's feet. He was stending meters away, and this little smart animal realised the leave suddenly slapping it came from this man. Jaime started jumping in the air, the snake under his feet, true cartoon-movie-entertainment. He slapped around with a stick and eventually the snake just left in the bushes. Si si peligroso!!! Was what Jaime was yelling. Only funny cause it ended well, but it was a hilarious sight! This is also the main way of recognising dangerous snakes. A snake that COMES AT YOU, is dangerous. The others will stay away from you. There's some really dangerous ones around, like the Ecquis, you die after 8 hours. So if we encounter one of them, Miguel had to come to decapitate it, and take away the head (stays poisonous).
There's a ton more little creatures, like ones when I still slept downstairs in the room I didn't like, I saw a tiny black scorpion on my wall. As it was small (3-4cm) I just caught it with a glass and let it out (don't like killing, only mosquitos). When I told somebody the person said 'Oh well as long as it's not a small black one it's not such a big deal'. Awww! So it WAS, and I was thinking, oh it's small ans harmless! haha, phew!
Then there's also the scorpionspider which just looks like a crazy horror killing animal, and makes me so so thankful I am not a bug living here!We also had a few tarantula's, even inside of the house. When other volunteers were freaking out, suddenly seeing a big hairy tarantula walking on the coffeetable, our head volunteer already being there over a year calmly said 'oh yeah she also lives in this house'.She was beautiful.
At the end of my day in the jungle I faced my fear. They were cutting wood of a giant fallen tree with a chainsaw to use in the construction of local houses. One of the two crazy male spidermonkeys was intimidated by the noise and high in the trees jumping around like a madman. There he was. But I felt safe, near the chainsaw and 3 men (the guide and 2 workers), watching my assaulter in a whole different environment. This big animal was jumping from branch to branch, it wa san amazing sight. The trees in the primary forest are very high, and these creatures are the 2nd best in agility after the gibbons, of all the primates. Beautiful. Walking away from the site I have to admit I was carryng a big stick and looking behind me on the trail often.But I did it. I really faced my fear.
In one of my free days went rafting with Melanie in Tena a week earlier, which was a 'must-do' for me because this area was known to have the best rafting in the country, and to me rafting is one of the funest activities I can think of. We ended up with a great time and good sunburn :)
Time to move on. I enjoyed giving tours to tourists (in 4 languages! more or less :) ) I got a lot better in playing ukulele, and fell the itch again to hit the road. I'll miss the animals and jungle sounds, and am thankful for this experience.
